Printed wire boards are used to implement electronic systems or subsystems. A printed wire board includes a number of integrated circuits or components that are mounted on the surface of the board. The integrated circuits or other components are interconnected by wires or “traces” that are deposited or printed on the surface of the printed wire board. Electronic design automation is typically used to design a printed wire board. Electronic design automation may provide a graphical environment for building a system or subsystem from various lower level components. Once a system or subsystem has been designed, the system or subsystem's layout may be determined. Specifically, the orientation and location on the board is determined for the various system or subsystem components. One part of laying out a system or subsystem on a board is determining the location and placement of the wires or traces that interconnect the pins of the various integrated circuits or other components. A layout tool is a type of electronic design automation component that is used to determine the placement of circuit components and wire traces on a printed wire board.